The sport of horseshoes was originally played by pitching horseshoes onto stakes pounded into the ground a regulation distance apart. For more permanent courts, pairs of horseshoe pits were provided having clay surfaces and a stake generally centered in each pit. Finally, in recent years, some horseshoe courts have been constructed using a simulated clay surface of reclaimed rubber material supported on a box-like wood structure having an inflatable inner tube therein for additional support.
All of the known prior art apparatus for the sport of horseshoes have problems which limit their use. Stakes cannot be set up on a well groomed lawn without certain damage from the pitching of the shoes. Likewise, all outdoor horseshoe apparatus are at the mercy of the weather at all times and may be practically unusable in cold winter weather. Even the simulated courts having a rubber surface suffer the disadvantages that the protuding stake renders the apparatus bulky for storage and transport and the bottom wall of such apparatus adds undesirable weight. A further significant problem with the simulated courts is that of rigidly fixing the horseshoe stake without danger of breakage.
All of the above problems are believed to be solved by the portable horseshoe court of the present invention.